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Steve Urkel
Steven Quincy Urkel (born July 25, 1976), generally known as Steve Urkel or just Urkel, is a fictional character on the ABC/CBS sitcom Family Matters. He is portrayed by Jaleel White. Originally slated to have only one appearance on the show, he soon became its most popular character. Steve was the epitome of a geek/nerd, with large, thick eyeglasses, "high-water" or "flood" pants held up by suspenders, multi-colored cardigan sweaters, and a high-pitched voice. He professed unrequited love for neighbor Laura Winslow, perpetually annoyed her father, Carl, and tried to befriend her brother Eddie (whom Steve calls "Eddo"). Amongst the rest of the family, Harriette, Rachel, Richie and "mother" Estelle Winslow were more accepting and caring of Urkel. Throughout the series' run, Steve was central to many of its recurring gags, primarily gratuitous property damage and/or personal injury as a result of his inventions going awry or his outright clumsiness. He became known for several catch phrases uttered after some humorous misfortune occured, including "I've fallen and I can't get up!" after he accidently got drunk in one episode and fell off the edge of a building, "Did I do that?" (previously used by Curly in the 1934 Three Stooges short Punch Drunks), "Whoa Mama!" and "Look what you did" (if rarely someone else caused the damage). He first appeared in the episode "Laura's First Date." As a boy, Steve was incredibly smart but annoyed everyone around him. Steve never really stayed at his own house because his own parents showed nothing but contempt for him. Which was in fact, just a few steps away from the Winslow's house. He bothered his neighbors a lot. Though at first, he went over there just to see his crush Laura, but after making friendly relationships with everyone else, he decided to see the other members of the family. If Laura breaks Steve's heart, he says something to make her regret saying whatever insulted him. Once, Steve told Carl Winslow, the father, that he actually wanted him to be his father, because his own father was greatly disappointed with him for not wanting to be a surgeon. Steve has asked Carl to do a lot of things for him. Naming a few: how to swim, how to drive, how to ride a bicycle. Even though Carl yells at Steve a lot, he cares for him. Steve Urkel has been known to make crazy contraptions that usualy never work, but one did help him a lot: the transformation chamber. He could turn into Elvis, Einstein, or Bruce Lee. Or his other half: Stefan Urquelle. Turning into Bruce Lee, helped him escape thugs and bullies. Turning into Elvis made him give up his chances into being able to go to MIT College. Turning into Einstein made him even smarter than he usually was. And turning into Stefan got him chances with girls because Stefan was cool, slick, and popular. This unknowingly made his parents love him only because Stefan was everything and although nerds were shallow people who prefered his company over Steve. He even made a cloning machine. When he showed it to Carl, he got excited and told him that he wanted Steve to clone his paycheck. But, Steve had already cloned himself. And Steve and the clone destroyed the machine to prevent anybody crazy enough to clone a whole army and rule the world. But, the Steve clone was bothering everyone, including his parents, who had moved to Russia. So, Laura told Steve to put the Steve clone into the transformation chamber and make him turn into Stefan Urquelle. In the fourth season, Steve went on a double date with Laura and her Boyfriend, Ted and his cousin: Myra. She was madly in love with him. So, a few weeks later. Laura brought Myra over to see Steve. He found out that she loved polka as much as he did. So, they shared a kiss. Myra loved Steve very much for about four years. Beginning in season 9, they grow apart immediately and eventually break up. The reason for the break up was not only because Laura started to like Steve, but also that Myra was against his makeover and wanted him to stay as the sexy nerd she loved. She pretended to break up with him as a ploy to get him to stay with her and when it failed, she not only sued him for alienation of affections, but also resorted to stalking and spying on him. Although, Laura was dating Stefan Urquelle. A few months (weeks in episodes) later, Steve proposed to Laura and she had to make a tough decision, but strangely enough, she chose Steve. Stefan seemingly accepted it and moved on with his life. He is played by Jaleel White. Biography Beginnings Coming soon! In Family Matters Steven Quincy "Steve" Urkel was introduced as The Winslows pesky, annoying next door neighbor. It was revealed that he likes coming over to their house more than his own because he sees Carl and Harriette as the loving parents that he should've had. Steve's own parents, Dr.Herb and Diane Roberta Urkel has nothing but the utmost contempt for him and do their part to avoid him at all times. In season 5's Dr. Urkel and Mr. Cool while he was Stefan Urquelle, they showered him with love and introduced him to the rest of his relatives. It was also revealed that although nerds themselves, Dr and Mrs. Urkel are very shallow people and prefers Stefan's company over Steve's any day. The viewers also sees that out of Steve's relatives only four really care for him. His Uncle Ernie who owns a horse trailer, revealed in both The Big Fix and Requiem for an Urkel. He maintains a good relationship with Aunt Oona(Donna Summer) from "Altoona" and she aside from Estelle Winslow is the closest thing he has to a mother figure. He's very close to his Scouthern Belle cousin, Myrtle Mae Urkel and she treats him like her brother. It was also implied that his uncle, Cecil, also cares for Steve. It was revealed in season 8's Nightmare at Urkel Oaks, that his other uncle Big Daddy Urkel, is a peanut farming mogul who did not think Eddie was a good choice for his daughter except when bribed with cash. It was mentioned in Season 2 that Big Daddy and the other relatives (excluding Oona, Cecil, Ernie and Myrtle) pay Steve a lot of money not to visit them. However, they tolerated him after he got a makeover and was less clumsy. Steve has a gangster cousin from Detroit named Cornelius Eugene Urkel (also played by White) who went by the moniker "Original Gangsta Dawg". He tries to avoid him at all costs because everytime he visits, he wants money from him. Steve also has another cousin named Julie, that's D.J.'s friend and lives in San Francisco. It was revealed in Season 2's Busted that the Urkels are very good at gambling and have a sixth sense which allows them to win at casinos. Eddie's unlicensed driving to impress Jolene left him with an $800 damage to Carl's beloved station wagon and has to secretly fix it before he finds out. He and Steve headed down to Mom's Bakery which secretly hosted an illegal casino. Raking in a win over $32,000 and on their way out, both boys along with the other gamblers are arrested by the police duing a raid. Carl eventually paid their bail and found out about the damage to his car anyway. Personality Coming soon! Relationships: Laura Winslow Steve was shown to have an obbsessive crush on Laura, but she didn't return those feelings until later (and in one episode, Steve finally stood up to Laura when she was still being mean to him and ordered her to respect him). Despite that, she has shown appreciation for the kind things he's done for her family. Both of them are now a married couple. Steve sometimes goes to her house and tries to flirt with her. At the same time, he does respect Laura's personal space, unlike Myrtle. Myra Monkhouse Myra was introduced as both Ted Curran's cousin and a potential girlfriend for Steve just so Laura can have some breathing space. He was initally attracted to her because she was sweet and intelligent and didn't care of what others thought of both her and Steve. Urkel was soon repelled by her jealous and possessive nature when she came to the conclusion that Laura was serious competition fro his love. This was explored in both seasons 5 and 9 when he saw what life was like in Laura's shoes when she pursued him relentlessly. He and Myra dfated duing seasons 6- 8. In season 9, they grew apart when Steve learned that she hated his makeover and demanded that he goes back to the sexy nerd she loved. He refused and Myra broke up with him first, though it later was learned that she only pretended to do so in order to get Urkel to renounce his love for Laura and stay with her. When Steve refused, she resorted to not only suing him, bur also stalking and spying with illegal surveillence gear. She teamed up with Stefan and both set out to win their true loves back. Though intitally successful, Laura still wanted to date him and Mya vowed never to rest until Steve is hers. Urkel soon learned that she was spying on him and demanded she renounce her love for him immediately because he loves Laura. Myra refused and got her arrested for stealing her watch. However, Urkel was able to drop the charges and expose her for spying on him with illegal spy gear. The police took everyhting from Myra's room and pursued criminal charges. When she learned of his and Laura's engagement, Myra continued to hold the torch even though he didn't love her. It's unknown what happened to her after that, although it could be assumed that she went to jail for her crimes. Susie A one time only character whom got along with Steve right away. Laura was instantly jealous of the two when they started dating. However, they broke up when Steve not only introduced her to the president of the chess club, but also admitting that he still loves Laura. Vonda Mahoney Vonda was a girl that Eddie dated in season 3. She had crush on Steve in The Love God, after he tutors her in a class she was failing in. Worried that she may sell herself just to have guys date her, he teaches Vonda the dangers of making herself easy and accept herself for who she is. Though she felt better about it, Eddie wanted to beat up Steve for interfering. Clothing/Outfit Coming soon! Category:Characters Category:Protagonists Category:Male Category:Characters played by Jaleel White